How Do I Price My Books?

[NoelsVintageBooks]

I know there's a lot of books for sale in this team. (Heck, that's an understatement if I ever said one!)

But, I know there's a lot of question and thought that goes into listing a book for sale. I mean, sure, you could just throw a dollar amount on it and rock &roll. However, is that the best method?

It is if it works for you.

If that doesn't work for you, then put a bit more effort into the listing process. Start by doing just a little bit of research. Google the book title, author and publish year. See what the world wide web has to say about that book.

We've shared a whole list of websites that can help you with your research in another thread. The link is: www.etsy.com/teams/7374/vintage-books/discuss/11726215/page/1

The second step you need to take is to honestly evaluate the condition of your book. Does it look pristine? Has it been through the wringer? Is it signed by the author or just scribbled in by a 3 year old?

Describing the book accurately and completely will help you sell your book. But what do you say in a description? Remember things that people will google or etsy search ... ISBN, title, author, short summary,book condition, year published- those are all good things to include.
http://www.alibris.com/help/book-descriptions

We'll talk about tags and key words another day. That's a topic unto itself!

After you've figured out the value of your book, now you need to decide on what price you want to get for the item. How much did you spend to buy it? How much are your listing fees? Do you want to sell it in a hurry or really get the highest bid?

My personal method isn't really scientific, I simply make a list of all the prices i can find for a book, then calculate the average $. Then round off to the nearest dollar that feels right. That's it. I've sold enough books to think it's a fair method. I haven't sold enough to think I'm an expert on pricing.

Try a few methods for yourself and see where the sweet spot is. I use AbeBooks for most of my comparisons>>

http://www.abebooks.com/books/old-books-antique-appraising-pricing/book-values.shtml is a really good tool to use in order to determine what your book is worth.

What steps do you take to price a book?

[NelliesCupboard]

I have tow different pricing methods for books. Foe newish book that are not rare but have great curb appeal and are is perfect condition I price between $8 -$12. The older books are more difficult. I use Biblio and try to find the average price for a book in my condition, If the book is in the range of $10 to $20 I go with the average price. If the book is more expensive (especially go to something special like first edition, association copy or rarity) I price at a lower price than the average Biblio prices because my customers aren't book collectors they are book lovers. As I never pay more than $2 a book I can still make a profit. I have a couple rare items that most etsy shoppers probably laugh when they see the items so I like them other places as well

[Former_Member]

Hey Noel is this discussion going to be for members only???????????

I think it will really impact on member's activity, coming here for real help, saying what they mean without thinking the etsy world is going to be coming on in and taking away what little vintage knowledge we have left - you know me - it's a conspiracy

[Former_Member]

Sheryl I try and do the same thing although I use amazon the most because I have asked some past customers where they normally buy their books, if they see two books for the same price and condition on etsy or amazon which do they chose and all of them said amazon

but those special books - the ones that I really enjoy looking at I price what I believe them to be worth and the ones that are available absolutely nowhere else except for digital - what do you know those books have a shelf life of approximately 2 years at least - why? don't know

Question: could someone please explain that when I look for my book - the one that is the only paper copy around - why is digital books on amazon and every other site first before you see mine in the search results - my etsy listing will be like number 5 - you type in vintage paper book and you go to amazon - that is not right and chaps my ass big time
oops

[Former_Member]

i am having trouble spelling and talking apparently - holy crap do members put the isbn in their listings - how dumb am i? never thought of it - leave me alone it snowed today o.k.

[NoelsVintageBooks]

1. Sheryl, I don't use Biblio much ... in fact, I'm a complete novice ... what do you like about that site?

2. Bee - this discussion is public, looks like I didn't make it members only. I don't think that's a problem, as I think our customers who might read this would appreciate knowing we're trying to be fair in our pricing.

2a. I'm not a believer in conspiracy theories, you know. <grins>

3. I do put ISBN in my listings, most people do not. I like knowing about the book and searching by ISBN helps me see more info on it. It can help in searches too.

4. How come your listing shows up 5th .. I can't answer that question, I think it has to do with Google Algorithms (constantly changing) and the size of the site (links, traffic, etc)

[Former_Member]

Biblio - Sheryl I am going to check it out

I would love to hear from other stores about their shipping; including all the good the bad and the ugly.

I ship Internationally with about 26% of yearly sales being from Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Denmark and the rest is split up between USA and Canada - although almost 60% of all sales are to the USA

[drumliner]

I own a book I love that I bought many years ago in Copenhagen. Unfortunately text is in Danish.

It is

Den Gamle Kobstad
Ny Samling
Tegniger af Kr. Kongstadt
Tekst af Vilh Andersen.

It was published in 1929, with only 2000 editions.
Heavy paper, large format, and beautiful drawings of small Danish town places of the time.

My search says it is sold for only about 30 Euros.

My question would be if I'd better take some pages out and try to sell them?
They are really beautiful b/w drawings of meanwhile historical architecture,.

[NoelsVintageBooks]

Oh Christine! What a quandary.

I found one listing for that book on Abe Books and that copy is marked $60 US. That's probably closer to 50 euros.
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/den-gamle-k%F8bstad/author/andersen-vilhelm/

The book lover in me thinks, no way, don't cut up a good book! Then again, I don't know what condition your book is in.

Personally, I'd list it as is and see if you get any interest. You never know!

If you carry that in your store for a long time and really want to clear it out of your inventory, maybe then break it out and offer it as ephemera and market to the scrap bookers / mixed media folks.

My thoughts ...

[drumliner]

That listing is for the two books published. I saw it. But I only have the second one.

The thing is: I love those drawings, and if I had a lot of space I would cut out some and frame them and hang them in my house. There are many in the book, though.

But if I leave them in the book, no one sees them, me included..

The condition of the book is pretty good, given its age.

So, yes, a quandary, or dilemma.

[NelliesCupboard]

I do not put ISBN numbers in because few people even know what they are, also many of my books are pre ISBN so should I put in LCCC numbers? As for why I like Biblio their advance search functions are great another great site is http://www.trussel.com/f_books.htm you can do one search including whatever sites you want plus they have tons of reference material on books book collecting etc.
I rarely use Amazon usually unrealistic prices and they do not differentiate well between editions printings etc. A site I love just for the shear joy of it is http://www.tomfolio.com . It is where I love to shop and browse and learn